According to a recent survey(1), over 1,450 current CBD consumers think that CBD is as effective in treating chronic pain as opioids. This is incredibly exciting news for many reasons. But first, let’s break down the study:
AmericanMarijuana.org(2), which claims to “…review & test every single CBD product on the market,” created the parameters of the study, which were that 1,453 people were surveyed who used CBD as a daily method for the treatment of pain. The majority of the consumers were millennials, but Baby Boomers did comprise approximately 8% of the respondents. In the middle, rounding out the group, were Gen X’ers at 19% and Gen Z at 12%.
Now, these were people that had previously been prescribed narcotics (opioids) for their pain, but a tremendous 97% reported that their opioid usage had actually decreased since starting the CBD. This is very good news, because often, when a person is prescribed narcotics, they need more(3) as time goes on to control their pain, which can lead to addiction and have devastating effects on their lives. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse(4), 2 million people in the United States currently abuse opioids, and over 90 people die of overdoses daily.
In more good news, this survey found that 40% of respondents had stopped using opioids and that over half–53%–had even stopped all other pain medication, and used CBD exclusively and singularly for pain relief. Now that’s something to be excited about, because this indicates that there may be a possible solution to the American opioid epidemic(5), as it has commonly been referred to.
The next step, according to Tory R. Spindle, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is to perform some, “controlled research” in order to figure out more about CBD and how it affects the human body. She pointed out that there is a certain “expectancy effect(6)” that needs to be accounted for, which is inversely similar to the “placebo effect.” It has been determined that in humans, if you expect a certain medicine or drug to have a certain effect, you are more likely to report positively that it did and behave as if it did, whether it did or not. This is why scientific research is done using controls, so that in the end, the data is real and true completely.
That said, it’s not all good news. In April of this year, the FDA(7) issued warning letters to two different CBD companies, saying that without the science to back it up, there is potential harm in advertising that CBD can be used as an alternative to opioids for pain.
However, it has been suggested that opioids might be the next step in a new treatment for opioid addiction, which would be akin to a miracle and would improve and save many lives. However, the topic(8) remains controversial, so we will have to wait with bated breath for the outcome.
Response:
- https://americanmarijuana.org/
- https://americanmarijuana.org/
- https://www.asahq.org/whensecondscount/pain-management/opioid-treatment/opioid-abuse/
- https://www.drugabuse.gov/
- https://www.safetylit.org/citations/index.php?fuseaction=citations.viewdetails&citationIds[]=citjournalarticle_370232_13
- https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-642-27772-6_174-2.pdf
- https://www.fda.gov/
- https://www.ganjapreneur.com/topic/cbd/
FDA Disclaimer – These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or prior to using any CBD products.